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MortgagePoint » Your Trusted Source for Mortgage Banking and Servicing News 70 July 2025 J O U R N A L home supply was at its lowest point ever, homebuyers were "ravenous", and mortgage rates were hovering at a historic low of 3.1%. In contrast to today's 40-day pace, homes were being sold off the market in 24 days. "The record-high dollar value of all homes listed for sale is one way to quantify this buyer's market," said Chen Zhao, Redfin's head of economics re- search. "Not only are there more homes for sale than there have been in five years, but the value of those homes is higher than it has ever been. We expect rising inventory, weakened demand, and the prevalence of stale supply to push home prices down 1% by the end of this year, which should improve affordabil- ity for buyers because incomes are still going up." Redfin calls this "stale inventory" in its research because more than two out of five (44%) listings in April had been on the market for at least 60 days without getting under contract. This is the highest April share since 2020, when the pandemic's beginning brought the housing market to a complete halt, and up from 42.1% a year earlier. That stale inventory is worth $331 billion in total, which is almost half of the whole inventory's dollar value. It's grown 20.5% over the previous year. HOMEOWNERS AND INSURERS BRACE FOR THE COSTS OF HURRICANE SEASON A s the nation enters the 2025 hurricane and wildfire season, the costs of climate-related events are posing greater challenges to both insurers and their customers alike. A recent report from the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Federal Insurance Office (FIO) found the aver- age homeowners' insurance premium per policy increased 8.7% faster than the rate of inflation in 2018-2022. Some consumers in more at-risk areas faced substantially larger premium increases than the national average. Another study, Deep Sky Research's "Wildfires 2025," an analysis of insur- ance market data from California, Ore- gon, Texas, and Washington alongside advanced fire weather modeling, reveals how climate change is reshaping both wildfire risk and financial markets. The research builds on Deep Sky's previ- ous wildfire analysis from 2024, which found that extreme fire risk frequency had grown 20-fold across the U.S. As far as the 2025 hurricane season is concerned, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) projects that for the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season, which spans from June 1 to November 30, a 30% chance of a near-normal season is anticipated, a 60% chance of an above-normal season is anticipated, and a 10% chance of a below-normal season is anticipated. NOAA is forecasting a range of 13-19 total named storms (winds of 39 mph or higher), and of those, six to 10 are forecast to become hurricanes (winds of 74 mph or higher), including three to five major hurricanes (Category 3, 4, or 5; with winds of 111 mph or higher). Whether it be fire or water, the path of destruction is impacting homeowners nationwide, leaving record losses in the wake of recent storms. Who is Paying the Most? Data from the U.S. Treasury found that homeowners in communities im- pacted by substantial weather events are paying far more than those elsewhere. From 2018-2022, consumers living in the 20% of ZIP codes with the highest ex- pected annual losses to buildings from climate-related events paid $2,321 in home insurance premiums on average, 82% more than those in the 20% lowest climate-risk ZIP codes. "Between juggling the rising cost of home insurance premiums and other daily expenses, Americans are tightening their budgets right now, but insurance isn't the place to cut cor- ners," said Bankrate Insurance Expert Shannon Martin. "Keep in mind that FEMA is undergoing budgetary changes and plans to shift some of the responsi- bility of disaster relief from the federal government to the states. This could limit the availability and effectiveness of federal assistance, especially immedi- ately following a storm. Having an active homeowner's insurance policy and an emergency savings account is more important this year than in the past." Recent data from LendingTree suggests that households in prominent Tornado Alley states—Oklahoma, Ne- braska, and Kansas—spend the highest percentage of their income on home insurance. Oklahoma is the highest, with 6.84% or $6,133 of household in- come for home insurance. This is more than a percentage point higher than in the next highest state, Nebraska, at 5.73% or $5,912. Kansas is third at 5.58% or $5,412. That same study from Lending- Tree found that Hawaiian households spent the least percentage of income on home insurance. Just 0.48% or $632 of household income goes toward home insurance in the state, ahead of Califor- nia (0.88% or $1,260), and the District of Columbia (1.04% or $1,764). The status of California may change moving forward as CalFire reports that on January 24, 23,448 acres of land were destroyed by the fire; with 79% of the fire contained. As of January 28, the Pali- sades Fire in the Los Angeles region has been confirmed to have destroyed 6,837 homes and other structures and burned a total of 23,448 acres. Policy Non-Renewals Highest in Areas with Greatest Expected Losses Consumers in the highest-risk ZIP codes faced higher policy nonrenewal rates, with average nonrenewal rates approximately 80% higher than those in the lowest-risk ZIP codes. Moreover, average nonrenewal rates increased more in the highest-risk areas than in the lowest-risk areas over this period,